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Version Information

  • 2018-Q4 (Released February 22, 2019)
    • Records (including Production and Waste) queried through December 31, 2018; Downloaded from PADEP August 2018 and February 20 2019.
  • 2018-Q3 (Released February 6, 2019)
    • Records (including Production and Waste) queried through September 30, 2018; Downloaded from PADEP August 2018 and February 5, 2019.
  • 2018-Q2 (Released August 30, 2018)
    • Records (including Production and Waste) queried through June 30, 2018; Downloaded from PADEP August 6, 7, & 28, 2018.
  • 2018-Q1 (Released August 16, 2018)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2018; Downloaded from PADEP August 6 & 7, 2018.
    • Production and Waste through February 2018 downloaded and included.
    • Geodatabae Schema Changes
      • Unconventional Wells geodatabase now include z-values based on the OGLOC_SURFACE_ELEVATION field
      • WASTE_PERIOD_FIRST, WASTE_PERIOD_LAST, PROD_PERIOD_FIRST, PROD_PERIOD_LAST fields were changed to WASTE_DATE_FIRST, WASTE_DATE_LAST, PROD_ DATE _FIRST, PROD_ DATE _LAST, respectively
      • Well Production Summary Fields were removed from the Unconventional Wells feature class. This data is still available in the Unc_Production table
    • Metadata document changes
      • Changed COMPUTER DATA FILES section to DOWNLOAD FILES
      • Added UNCONVENTIONAL WELLS TOOLS section
    • ArcGIS Layer files for both ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro (.lyr and .lyrx) were added as a separate download
    • A new Unconventional Wells Tools (v. 1) toolbox released; Tools include:
      • Calculate Unconventional Well Production
  • 2017-Q4 (Released August 16, 2018)
    • Records (including Production and Waste) queried through December 31, 2017; Downloaded from PADEP August 6 & 7, 2018.
  • 2017-Q3 (Released August 3, 2018)
    • Records queried through September 30, 2017; Downloaded from PADEP October 9, 2017.
    • Production and Waste through July 2017 downloaded and included.
  • 2017-Q2 (Released August 25, 2017; Re-released with new schema on August 3, 2018)
    • Records (including Production and Waste) queried through June 30, 2017; Downloaded from PADEP Aug 22, 2017.
  • 2017-Q1 (Released April 24, 2017; Re-released with new schema on August 3, 2018)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2017, Downloaded from PADEP Apr 10, 11, & 14, 2017.
    • Production and Waste through February 2017 downloaded and included.
    • Workflow changes
      • Current Operator: the priority of determining the most current operator was changed to place the PADEP Oil & Gas Locations – Conventional Unconventional first
      • Location: the location is now calculated based on the average of all location coordinates
      • Well Production Summary Fields: Renamed to be compatible with shapefiles
    • Metadata document changes
      • Updated field definitions and general information to be current
      • Updated source data access and download links to be current
      • Updated Credits to be current
      • Updated to be accessible for people with disabilities
    • Due to the size of the geodatabase increasing as records have been added, the zip file has been split into separate zip files for the different formats for easier downloadability
    • The following datasets are no longer included in the downloadable zip file to consolidate and modernize the data. The table below explains the decision to remove or how the data has been mitigated or transformed:
File Name Explanation / Mitigation
CSVThe following CSV files are no longer included
Unc_WellsProductionSummary.csv The fields included in the CSV file have been joined to the Unc_WellsSummary.csv table
UnconventionalWellsPA_YYYY_Q#.gdbThe following are no longer included in the Geodatabase
Counties_PAThis was removed for consolidation purposes
MarcellusShaleFormationThis was removed for consolidation purposes
MarcellusShaleFormation_PAThis was removed for consolidation purposes
Unc_WellsProductionSummaryThis was removed for consolidation purposes
Unc_WellsSummaryThe Unconventional Wells feature class now includes records without location data as null geometry
UnconventionalWellsPA_YYYY_Q#.mxdThe ArcMap Document was removed for consolidation purposes
Pennsylvania Unconventional Wells.lyrThe ArcGIS Layer file was removed for consolidation purposes
  • 2016-Q4 (Released March 1, 2017)
    • Records (including production and waste) queried through December 31, 2016; Downloaded from PA DEP Feb 14 & 27, 2017.
  • 2016-Q3 (Released October 13, 2016)
    • Records queried through September 30, 2016; Downloaded from PA DEP October 13, 2016.
    • Production and Waste through July 2016 downloaded and included.
  • 2016-Q2 (Released August 25, 2016)
    • Records (including production and waste) queried through June 30, 2016; Downloaded from PA DEP Aug 18, 19 & 22, 2016.
  • 2016-Q1 (Released April 12, 2016)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2016; Downloaded from PA DEP April 8 & 11, 2016.
    • Production and waste for January 2016 are also included.
  • 2015-Q4 (Released February 23, 2016)
    • Records (including production and waste) queried through December 31, 2015; Downloaded from PA DEP February 22, 2016.
  • 2015-Q3 (Released October 13, 2015)
    • Records queried through September 30, 2015; Downloaded from PA DEP October 7, 2015.
    • Production and waste for July 2015 were downloaded and included.
  • 2015-Q2 (Released September 1, 2015)
    • Records queried through June 30, 2015; downloaded from PA DEP August 24, 2015.
    • Production and waste are now reported monthly, January through June figures were downloaded and included in the dataset.
    • Naming convention for gas quantity and gas production days renamed again to accommodate both monthly production and waste as well as continued 6-month period reporting.  As with earlier years, 2015-1 and 2015-2 will correspond to gas production within January through June and July through December, respectively.  Therefore, GAS_QUANT_2015_1 corresponds to the total amount of unconventional gas produced January 1 through June 30, 2015.  GAS_DAYS_2015_1 would represent the number of days of unconventinoal gas production for that same period.
    • Monthly production and waste periods will follow the format M-XX-X-XXXU.  After M-, the fields are year (2 digit), Month (1-2 digit), and 3-digit text month abbreviation.  For example, M-15-1-JANU would be January 2015, and M-15-2-FEBU would be February 2015.  This applies to both Unconventional Gas Quantity and Undonventional Gas Production Days.
    • Conventional gas production will still be reported for these fields with the YEAR_0 suffix.
  • 2015-Q1 (Released October 7, 2015)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2015; downloaded from PA DEP October 6, 2014.
    • Production and waste are now reported monthly, January figures were downloaded and included in the dataset.
    • With this change in reporting period, GAS_QUANT_20XX_X and GAS_DAYS_20XX_X will  retain the older naming convention except that instead of _1 or _2 for first half or second half of a year will be replaced with a value from 1 to 12, corresponding the the month of the year.  For example, GAS_QUANT_2015_1 will be unconventional gas production for January,   GAS_QUANT_2015_7 would be unconventional gas production for July, and GAS_QUANT_2015_11 would be unconventional gas production for November.
    • These field names may change in future iterations of the dataset to follow DEP naming conventions more closely.
    • Conventional gas production will still be reported for these fields with the _0 suffix.
  • 2014-Q4 (Released February 23, 2015)
    • Records queried through December 31, 2014; downloaded from PA DEP February 20, 2015.
    • No updates.
  • 2014-Q3 (Released October 7, 2014)
    • Records queried through September 30, 2014; downloaded from PA DEP October 6, 2014.
    • No updates.
  • 2014-Q2 (Released August 26, 2014)
    • Records queried through June 30, 2014; downloaded from PA DEP August 22, 2014.
    • No updates.
  • 2014-Q1 (Released May 14, 2014)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2014; downloaded from PA DEP April 14, 2014.
    • Added two additional datasets: PA DEP Oil and Gas Locations – Conventional Unconventional shapefile from PASDA and Well Formations Report.
    • Added new fields: OGLOC_COUNT, OGLOC_UNC_COUNT, OGLOC_HRZ_COUNT, OGLOC_WELL_STATUS, OGLOC_WELL_PAD, OGLOC_SURFACE_ELEVATION, FORMATION, WELL_STAGE.
    • Changed the WELL_STATUS definition to be in line with PA DEP definition.
    • Added a new analysis, Well Stage, to indicate the life stage of a well. This field will help to better determine whether a well is permitted, drilled, or has produced natural gas.
    • Fixed an error with the calculation for the ERROR_UNC_STATUS that did not accurately identify wells with the error.
  • 2013-Q4 (Released February 28, 2014)
    • Records queried through December 31, 2013; downloaded from PA DEP February 26, 2014.
    • No updates.
  • 2013-Q3 (Released October 15, 2013)
    • Records queried through September 30, 2013; downloaded from PA DEP October 7, 2013.
    • No updates.
  • 2013-Q2 (Released August 30, 2013)
    • Records queried through June 30, 2013; downloaded from PA DEP August 26, 2013.
    • No updates.
  • 2013-Q1 (Released June 30, 2013)
    • Records queried through March 31, 2013; downloaded from PA DEP May 15, 2013.
    • The Unconventional Wells Summary data compilation method changed significantly, allowing for faster processing. The order of fields changed, some field names were changed, new fields were added, while others were eliminated (see Unconventional Wells Summary Fields table). Below are the important changes. Not all are listed.
    • WELL_STATUS – Definition changed to conform to the PA DEP definition. See Data Dictionary section of metadata document. The well status is also included from the Spud, PUC, Waste, and Production reports.
    • PERMIT_WELL_TYPE and SPUD_ WELL_TYPE – Fields added to indicate PA DEP well type classification.
    • PUC_PLUGGED_DATE – This field was added to show when wells were plugged.
    • VIOL_DATE_FIRST and _LAST – Violations dates were added.
    • PUC_ANALYSIS – This field was eliminated and the analysis is no longer completed.
    • PUC_FORMATION_NAME – this field was eliminated because the PA DEP no longer includes the field in the PUC report data. The PA DEP replaced this field with an additional report called “Oil and Gas Well Formations Report” (OOGM 2013). At this time, there is no plan to include the report or reestablish the field in a later release.  If the data is desired, it is recommended to download that report, and use an attribute join to add the field.
    • All GAS_QUANTITY and GAS_DAYS fields – These fields were moved into a new table that summarizes natural gas production. It is designed to be easily joined to the Unconventional Wells Summary table.
    • All tables are now available as Comma Separated Value (CSV) format instead of Microsoft Excel. This allows for more versatility and compatibility with other database software. CSV is a compatible format with Microsoft Excel.
    • A quarterly release schedule was established. This also resulted in a redesigned versioning structure. See Update and Version Information of the metadata.
    • The recommended data citation has changed.
  • 2012.12 (Released February 8, 2012)
    • Records queried through December 31, 2012; downloaded from PA DEP January 25, 2013 (All Sources).
    • The 2012 annual and second period for unconventional wells Production and Waste reports are not included as these are not released until mid-February. The next version will contain these records.
    • Minor elements of the data structure were updated to help conserve storage space and allow for greater flexibility for users with earlier versions of ArcGIS. The changes include fixes that allow the file geodatabase, map document, and layer file to be compatible with ArcGIS 9.3 and above.
    • The known issue regarding the truncation of text values for the INSPECTION_COMMENT field of the Compliance Report was resolved.
  • 2012.06 (Released September 28, 2012)
    • Records queried through June 30, 2012; downloaded from PA DEP August 16, 2012 (Permits, SPUD, Compliance, and PUC) and September 5, 2012 (Production and Waste).
    • The geodatabase changed its name from “Carnegie Geodatabase of Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Wells” to “Carnegie Museum of Natural History Pennsylvania Unconventional Natural Gas Wells Geodatabase”.
    • Fields updated: SITE_NAME changed to FARM_NAME; Any field designated with “MS” was changed to “UNC” to reflect the geodatabase name change; LOCATION_YN changed name to ERROR_LOCATION; All GAS_PROD fields changed to GAS_QUANT;
    • Fields removed: ERROR_FLAG, ERROR_NOTE
    • New fields added: ERROR_PERMIT, ERROR_SPUD, ERROR_MS_STATUS, and ERROR_COUNT. The field additions listed correct for any overlapping errors. For example, if a well has a permit or a spud error and is also inconsistently identified as an Unconventional well, each error will be reflected in the new fields. This eliminates weighting the errors and will show each error independently. The error count field can now be used to see which wells have more than one discrepancy. The definitions of errors and discrepancies were expanded and described more clearly as well.
    • Metadata was updated to reflect the changes from above.
  • 2012.04 (Released May 14, 2012)
    • Records queried through April 30, 2012; downloaded from PA DEP May 14, 2012.
    • Initial public release
  • 2011.12 (no formal release)
    • Records queried through December 31, 2011; downloaded from PA DEP on April 16, 2012.
    • Added Waste Reports, Compliance Reports, and PUC Act 13 SPUD Report.
  • 2011.10 (no formal release)
    • Records queried through October 31, 2011; downloaded from PA DEP Fall of 2011.
    • This dataset only includes Permit, SPUD, and Production records and used slightly different techniques in compiling the records due to a different data delivery system by the PA DEP. In January of 2012, the PA DEP released a new data query and download tool.